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Does anyone else really hate this? It's a common feature in new build flats and mostly down to the lack of space. However, I recently done a viewing at some new build homes down the road from me. All at least 4 bedrooms and have a garage. Floor space is quite decent but again they the kitchen and lounge are in the same room.

I just can't understand why anyone would have this. My main gripe is the noise if wife is cooking and I'm watching TV or smells lingering after you have cooked.

I remember one viewing we done and you could open the oven from the sofa!

I can't see any benefit on the 'socialising whilst cooking' theme as mostly the appliances / worktops / sinks are against the opposite wall, which means having ones back to the living space. Not all, I know but 'mostly'.

The other potential advantage of these set ups is when you have smaller children. Friends of ours have a small child, he works out all day, she is generally at home, but their separate kitchen is so small that its impossible to have their toddler in there with her when she is preparing his food, but if he's not in there then he has to be penned in the lounge because there is no visibility between the two. So they were thinking of knocking through to the dining room as one room so the toddler can play out of the kitchen but in sight. Obviously they still would have the separate lounge but if you don't have the space to separate them I guess that's where the through kitchen/diner/lounge comes in.

We designed our house with a large kitchen / living / diner and we love it. New visitors tend to say "Wow!" when they first enter the house. We also went for the extractor that offered the best mix of power and quietness, and insisted that it vented outside of the house.

Only drawback is that when cooking is in full swing it can be difficult to hear the television. But we have a snug if that's an issue.

My wife likes entertaining and her friends all prefer to visit our house.

Putting the kitchen in the lounge makes it easier to comply with rules on disabled access. If you need a hallway that reaches the kitchen and separate lounge to be wide enough for a wheel chair and have room in the lounge and kitchen to manoeuvre a wheel chair, both would need to be larger than the size needed if you put the kitchen in the lounge.

I am a messy person. It can take me some time to get around to washing up - I need a door to close on it all so that visitors aren't sussing out what a dirty mare I am.
Plus I hate people watching me cook. You can't drop something then give it a quick rinse under the tap when guests are watching.
Separate areas for me all the way.

I agree totally. I hate it when people come and talk to me while I'm in the kitchen trying to cook. There's a danger something's going to go seriously wrong with their dinner if I'm not just left to get on with it.

I really dislike this and would never buy such a property. I am happy with a breakfast/kitchen with separate living room. My first flat had one but want to be able to relax on the sofa without staring at the sink and dirty dishes.

Our old house had a separate small galley kitchen, really only big enough for one person to cook in, and no visibility to the living room. An utterly nightmare with a 1 year old... imo separate kitchen is only useful if there is enough room in there for a dining table or breakfast bar or other loitering area.

Current house is open plan so is much easier to keep the kids entertained and keep an eye on them while working in the kitchen. When they get older yes we might choose to put up a stud wall but that is something for another day. We are also lucky in that we have a separate utility room so don't have to put up with much appliance noise. I would draw the the line if I had to listen to the washing machine spinning while watching the TV.

And to the people who want to hide the dirty dishes, stop being lazy and just do the freaking dishes, it's not difficult! Why anyone would use that as a factor in the layout of their home is beyond me

I much prefer a living room with a kitchen area at one end. It means that if a pan boils over I can see it whilst sitting on my comfortable sofa. It is also space saving so more living area for a specific property size.

It seems to be the thing a lot of new developments have today. Probably selling the glossy image of socialising whilst continuing with the task of cooking and it being a big fun thing to do with everyone more 'involved'.

I'm now 3 weeks into living somewhere like this (for the first time) and it's taking some getting used to, especially with noise interference between the kitchen/tv/communicating (which is now more frustrated shouting).

A solution we have found is some ikea storage units placed between the 'kitchen' and lounge/diner area. It doesn't stop the noise problem but it makes the room more divided and gives the feel of a more separate kitchen. It doubles up as extra storage space too which is a must as the kitchen has limited cupboard space due to lack of walls and surfaces.

It's not for everyone but if you find yourself in this kind of space you can make it work.

One plus is being able to watch the bakeoff-inspired goodies rising (or rather, not rising...) in the oven from your sofa

We selected our house on the basis that we'd get the load bearing wall professionally removed. By removing the separation between kitchen and lounge the ground floor feels a lot larger and when either my wife or I cook its more inclusive.

The extra space allowed us to install a large island kitchen with a breakfast bar while still having a dinning table and lounge area which works well when its jus two of us or for the odd social get together we've hosted.

The developers are selling a lifestyle. The glossy brochure showing someone cooking while a (small) group of friends are nearby, chatting, drinking wine all having a wonderful time!

Then 5 minutes after all is finished in the kitchen, the group are constantly !!!!ed off with the noise of the dishwasher (if you're lucky enough to have room for one!) and the smell of the pots and pans left to be washed up.

Basically they've gained an extra few square meters per flat, just enough to squeeze another one bed onto each floor to sell at an over-inflated price.

Also, if you're in a city centre, there's the argument many people don't cook at home often so there's no need for a separate kitchen.

We bought our home because it has a nice, big kitchen / dining space, so we can eat and chat - but I love my cozy sitting room - as that is exactly what it is - a sitting room. Nice & snug, with a roaring fire, watching the garden in comfort. Don't like open plan all the way through.

Kitchen with a table/ kitchen diner is wonderful when you have small children as you can keep an eye on them while you are cooking etc. baby can sit in high chair with a few toys, small children around table with drawing / playdough etc. Also I used to love the table to have the newspaper spread out to sit and read for a few moments between chopping , stirring etc. These days it would be my laptop I guess !

I used to hate it when we had a small kitchen, couldn't see the children and no where for me to sit between stirring pots etc.

I do think it is important to have another living room to go to between though to leave the mess etc behind, especially with visitors and so the 'small people' can free range safely.

However space costs money and you have to live where you can afford to, now we are looking for a bungalow for retirement and the ones with one big kitchen / living room and two tiny bedrooms get a definite thumbs down from us , but we can't afford the bigger ones either

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